All posts in Lawsuits and Legal

We’ve seen big developments recently in employment law in California, New York state, and Philadelphia. Even if you aren’t doing business in any of these locations, it would be a good idea to pay attention  things that go on in these large, influential jurisdictions often have a way of filtering through to other areas of the country.

We’ve known for a long time now that some businesses are more prone to wage & hour violations than others. In the spirit of learning from the experience of others, here are the stories of three restaurateurs who recently got called out for not paying workers correctly.

Both California and New York have recently passed legislation raising the state minimum wage to $15 per hour. In addition, New York state and the city of San Francisco have passed paid leave laws. The laws are complex – read this article to find out more.

A New Mexico business owner found to his chagrin that excessive delays in producing documentation for a wage and hour audit can actually lead to jail time. Read more to find out how to avoid this problem for your business.

Turns out, paying back wages and penalties may not be the worst thing that happens to a business owner who underpays his workers. You can also end up doing time in jail. Unless you want to appear in your own personal episode of “Orange Is The New Black,” paying workers properly should be a priority.

I thought after my time in the industry I had seen everything. But an auto repair shop has managed to stumble across a novel method of recording employee time that I had not come across before. One which may end up getting them in trouble.

A former restaurateur in Santa Fe, NM learned the hard way that it’s a bad idea to try to fool the Wage & Hour Division of the Department of Labor. In this case, it was a bad idea to the tune of over $50,000.

Almost every day you can read stories of companies that have been assessed fines and penalties for infractions of wage and hour rules. Finding yourself in that situation is not just embarrassing – you could face a huge assessment that might threaten the very viability of your business. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to minimize your potential liability.

There’s been a lot of controversy over the years surrounding the issue of “donning and doffing” — that is, putting on required uniforms, safety equipment and other gear at the beginning of a work shift, and taking it off again at the end of the shift. Now the U.S. Supreme Court tries to bring some clarity to the issue.